Elastic ball valve



P. MUELLEII AND A. c. sCHIIEIIIvI/INN.

ELASTIC BALL VALVE.

APPLICATION FILED Nov. I4. 1919.

Patented Jan. MP9 E922.

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PHILIP MUJELLER AND ANTON C. SCHUERMANN, 0F DECATUR, ILLINGIS, ASSIGNORS T0 ADOLQEH MUELLER, TRUSTEE, 01u' DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

ELASTIC BALL VALVE.

Monaca.

Specification o f Letters Patent.

To l rwhom t may concern Be it known that we, PHILIP MUELLER and ANTON C. SCHUERMANN, citizens of the United States, residing at Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of lllinois, haye invented new and useful Improvements 1n Elastic Ball Valves, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to faucets or cocks and has particular reference to the elastic valve members used therein.

Some of the objects of our invention are to so improve the construction of the elastic ball or valve that it will retain its shape for a longer time than balls now generally used, it being provided with means whereby the strain upon the elastic portion of the ball is` partly relieved when the valve is closed; the elastic ball is better enabled to resist deformation, and cutting or crushing of the ball when the same is brought against the seat is prevented; and generally the life of the ball is materially increased, and it is pary ticularly elicient in cocks wherehot water is used.

rlhe above and other objects of our invention are obtained by the structure set forth in detail in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, where' Figure 1 is a longitudinal View through a basin cock showing our elastic ball applied thereto.

A Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on line 2-2, Figure l.

, Figure 3 is also a sectional view taken on line'3-3, Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, wherein like numerals represent like parts in the several views, 10 designates a basin cock which' may be of any suitable or well-known construction, the same being illustrated as having an eccentric stem11, which is adapted to receive on its upper end a suitable operating handle (not shown) and having on its lower end an eccentric or crank-portion 12, to

which is attached a valve stem 13 by meansv of a strap portion 14C, as is usual. rlhe stem Y 11 is held inplace in the cock body by a cap 15 screw-threaded upon the neck portion of the cock, and about the stem 11 are suitable packing rings 16 which form a fluid-tight joint about the same. The shank or inlet end of the cock has a curved valve seat 17 against which our improved elastic ball isl adapted to vbe moved into the reduced portion 20.

seat, and the inlet end of the cock is provided with screw-.threads for the reception of a ta1l-p1ece 18, the tail-piece having on its rear end a suitable screw-threaded shank portion by means of which the cock is connected to the usual supply or service pipe. rl`he cock,

above described, is of the usual or we1lknown type, and is herein shown by way of illustration only.

The rear end of the valve stem 13 which extends rearwardly into the tail-piece is of reduced diameter, and the stem is provided wlth radially extending wings or guides 19, the tips of which are adapted to engage the inner wall of the reduced portion 20 of the faucet shank, whereby the valve is guided and maintained in axial alignment with the tail-piece 18. About .the reduced end of the valve stem 13 and adapted for relative longitudinal movement thereon is a sleeve 21 which may be of any suitable construction, but, in the present instance, it i's shown, by way of illustration, as consisting of two portions having diHerent diameters, the portion having the larger diameter being designated by the numeral 22, and that of less diameter by the numeral 23. The portion 22 of greater diameter has an internal bore or recess 24 which receives a coil spring 25 adapted to encircle the rear end of the valve stem 13 and abutting at its inner end against the shoulder 26 at the inner end of the bore 24 the said spring 25 tends to maintain the sleeve and stem always in telescoped or contracted relation, but yield-l ing so as to permit the sleeve to slide outwardly on the stem when' the elastic valve member is brought to its seat. The spring is retained in the recess by a disk or washer 27 suitably aperturedA to encircle the end of the valve stem, and the disk is maintained in place by means of a pin 28 passing through a transverse hole or opening adjacent the end of the valve stem. The reduced portion 23 of the sleeve is suitably screw-threaded to receive the internal screw-threads of a brass collar 29 which is substantially of the same diameter as the bore of the reducer portlon 20 of the shank of the faucet, so that :it ipy e collar 29 serves to retain an elastic member or ball 30 upon the sleeve 21,' and, in the present instance, this ball or elastic member consists of a shell Ihaving substantially the same external diameter throughout its Patented Jan. 111D, 11922.

length'. portion of the shell hasfan in.

ternal diameter corresponding to the outer diameter of the larger portion 22 of the sleeve 21, and another portion of the shell has a reduced internal diameter corresponding to the diameter of the small portion 23 of the sleeve 21, so that the elastic ball or shell may be slippedover the sleeve, the shulder 31 obtaining between the portions of different diameters of the elastic ball or shell engaging against the oppositely disposed shoulder of the sleeve' 21. enlarged portion 22 ofthe sleeve 21 is eX- ternally screw-threaded for the reception .of .a cap 32, which cap encloses the rear end of 4the valve stem and the spring 25, Iand it has an annular groove or recess 33 which, when the cap 1s 1n place, receives the rear end of the elastic shell 30, aswill be seen inthe drawings. The elastic ball may or 1n not be provided with a protecting shell as desired, but, in the Apresent instance, we have illustrated the end of the shell rearward of the valve seat end thereof as being enclosed or encircled by a protecting ring 34; having its rear end crimped inwardly as at 35, to prevent the ring from working' or moving forwardly toward the valve-seat end ofthe elastic ball. The encircling ring or shell 34 prevents, to a certain degree, radial s reading or squashing of the elastic or flexible ball whn the same is brought against its valve sea l Themanner in which our improved elastic ball is assembled will be readily understood from Figure 1, it being noted that beforeE applying the sleeve 21 to of the sleeve until theshoulder 31 of the elastic shell engages the oppositelyy disposed shoulder ofthe sleeve 21, and then the retaining .collar 29 is screw-threaded upon the portipn 23 of the sleeve to retain the elastic ball upon the sleeve.' The sleeve is then inserted over the reduced end of the valve stem 13, the spring 25 placed in the recess 24 and' about the reduced end of the stem,.'and the spring y1s then locked in placed'by means of the'washer 2,7 and the pin 28'. The ,sleeve is malntained against the shoulder provided upon the valve stem at the front end of the reduced portion thereof due to the tension of spring 25. The cap 32 is then screwthreaded over the Irear end of thesleeve 21 to close the recess 24, and the cap is moved a sufficient distance upon the end of the sleeve to force'the rear end of the; elastic ball into the annular groove 33. Thereafter the protecting rmg 34 is slipped about the rear end of the. elastic or lieXible ball.`

When thev eccentric stem 11 is turned to open the valve, the crank portion 12 moves the valve stem 13 rearwardly and the shoulder on the valve stem forces the sleeve 21 rearwardly, and thereby withdraws the The, outer end of thek e valve stem, the elastic ball 30 1s slipped over the forward end v elastic ball or valve member 3Q from the valve seat 17. When the-eccentrlc stem 11 is turned to close the valve, the elastic ball -v is brought into engagement with the valve seat to close off the water. It will be noted that should the elastic ball not be provided with some yielding or resilient means, the ball would, of necessity, be compelled to take up the entire strain to which it is subjected when brought into engagement wit the valve seat, and upon repeated operation, the ball would likely be crushed or giveaway 'under the strain to which it is submitted.-

After the valve or ball"30 is brought to its seat and upon continued turning movement of the eccentric stem 11 in a 4direction tending to further close the valve, the spring 25 is placed under compression `and the lvalve turned to full cut-off. position, andat the Sametime should any parts of the valve or the ball 30 itself become worn, the spring would take up any resultant play and the ball would be yieldingly retained against the seat,` and leakage past the valve Would be prevented when the cock isclosed. It will be noted that the elastic' valve body 30, throughout its length encircles the sleeve 21 and the ball is maintained against longitudinal movement relative to the sleeve by oppositely disposed' abutments, both of which` are carrled by the sleeve, these abutments being, in the present instance, the shoulder 31 of the sleeve and the collar 29. With this arrangement the sleeve. is interposed between the stem 13 and the ball 30 so that there is no contact therebetweem, and thus wear upon the ball and the tendency for the ball to bind about the sleeve and prevent free'movement ofthe latterunder influence of spring 25, are guarded against.

It is, of course, obvious that our invention is susceptible 'of various modifications and changes, but we do not wish to limit ourselves to the particular embodiment herein illustrated and ldescribed unless so limited by the following claims: i

What we'claim is: i

1.` In combination, a valve stem; a sleeve slidingly mounted on said stem; means nor mally to-hold said sleeve and stem in tele` scoped relation; a stop to limit the telescop- 2. Incombination, a valve stem, a sleeve y slida'bly mounted on said stem, an elastic musees valve body mounted on and movable with said sleeve entirelyout of contact with said stem, means carried by the sleeve to prevent relative movement between the sleeve `and Valve body, a stopY for limiting the slidably carried thereby, a stop on the stemv for limiting movement of said sleeve in one direction, an elastic valve body carried by said sleeve, and terminating short of the end of said sleeve to permit the sleeve to engage said stop, and a spring about the stem for urging said sleeve toward said stop,

5. In`combinati`on, a valve stem, a sleeve slidably mounted on said stem, an elastic valve body mountedon and movable with said sleeve, a flange carried by the sleeve and against which the valve seat end of the valve body engages, and yieldable means carried bythe stem and urging said sleeve and its valve body thereon forwardly on said stem.

Gf'In combination, a valve stem, a sleeve slidably mounted on said "stem, an elastic valve body mounted on and movable with said sleeve, a flange carried by the sleeve and against which the valve seat end of the valve` body engages, ashell -about said elastic valve body, and yielpdable-means carried by the stemfand urging said sleeve forwardly 'on 4said stem.

7. In combination, a valve/.,stnjem, a sleeve slidably mounted on Vthe stem and having a recess at one end, a sp-ring in said recess encircling the end of said stem, means for preventing the withdrawal ofv the stem from said spring, and an elastic valve body mounted on said sleeve.

, 8. In combination, a valve stem having a shoulder intermediate its ends, a .sleeve vslidably mounted upon the' stem and engaging against said shoulder, said sleeve being of two portions ofdifferent external diameters and the larger portion having an enlarged bore or recess, .a spring in the recess encircling said stem, means for preventing the withdrawal of the stem from the spring, and an elastic valve body about the sleeve the internal periphery of which is of different diameters corresponding to the external diameters of the sleeve.

9. In combination, a valve stem, a sleeve slidably mounted upon said valve stem and having a flange at one end and a longitudinal recess or bore at the other end, a spring in said recess about the stem and engaging y said sleeve, means for preventingthe withdrawal of the stem from the spring, an elastic valve body about the sleeve abutting'at one end against said flange, and means at thev recessed end of the sleeve for retaining said valvel body 'against withdrawal from the sleeve.

10. In combination, a valve stem having a shoulder intermediate its ends, a sleeve slidably mounted upon the stem and adapted to engage against said shoulder, said sleeve having an internal recess, a spring in said recess encircling said stem and engaging said sleeve, means for preventing -the withdraWal of the stem from said spring, a cylindrical elastic valve body upon said sleeve, a collar upon said sleeve and engaging the seating end of said valve body, a cap screwthreaded over the recessed end of said sleeve, and a shell about said valve body.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto' set our hands.

PHILIP MUELLER. AN'IUN C. lSCHUERMANN. 

